Friday, December 4, 2015

The ball-o-fluff rag quilt is done. Got tested out a bit during football watching on Thanksgiving weekend.

Sweetie models the finished product

At 36x54" (91.5x137 cm), it was deemed the perfect size for the lounging lap: won't hide the remote or get in the way of a plate of nachos, but tucks under at the sides and feet in a very cozy manner.

And it stores neatly over the back of the chair also, due to its compact size.

Same layout as was shown during my previous blog post: 4x6 grid of 10" (25.4 cm) squares. I used one layer of Minky for the back, one layer of flannel for a filler, and flannel for the face. Sewed each block's sandwich together with a single X of stitching, and attached the blocks with 1/2" (1.3 cm) seams. Rag cuts were approximately 1" (2.5 cm) apart--but not because I measured while I was cutting them, just turned out that way by eyeball.

Closer view of some of the flannels used. The owls, plain gray, and origami print were purchased for this project. The dinosaurs and turquoise plaid were leftover scraps. And the HO-HO-HO and couch prints have long been in my stash--gotta come up with something clever for them one of these days...

The back: I found scraps of Minky/Cuddle at Goodwill, in colors that went with the gray/white/yellow floral. Yay for color and design, but Boo! for not using up very much of the floral fluff. I still have YARDS of that stuff.

Ooh--shout out to glen of QuiltSwissy for the fabulous advice on de-fluffing and making the quilt safe for general house use. Many trips to the dryer, and frequent emptying of the lint trap, did the trick. Thanks for the blogging love, leaving a comment that did the trick.

It's a finished project, and for that I'm thankful. It gets almost daily use in our drafty house, and that makes me a happy grrl. And I get to show off (every sewist loves a show & tell, right?)

Linking up with Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday, being hosted this week at Quokka Quilts. Go check out some other fab finishes!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Sweetie's birthday was last week, and I managed to pull off the next-to-impossible feat of making sewing a gift on-time. All it took was for me to completely neglect housecleaning and making meals for a couple days.

Worth it.

Bought the minion panel, and had a Panel Apron pattern from Something to Crow About, but knew I was gonna have to be clever: the 1 in a Minion saying would get cut up if it was left at the top of the apron. So I carefully sliced it off and pieced it onto the sides, where it shows in the back while being worn.

I was fortunate enough to have a bit of a coordinating minion print to use for the neck strap, but I needed fabric for waist ties (and a tiny bit of width in the apron body). I think the blue/orange stripe I found goes well in both places.

Birthday win: Sweetie likes it!

The apron is backed with a blue chambray from stash. Only 2/3 yard used, but I'm so pleased to finally have busted something from stash.

Linking up with Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday. This week's theme is Christmas gifts, but I'm hoping this birthday gift gets to join the party, too.

Now--back to housework? Or back to Christmas sewing? (So hard to choose...)